Philosophy 1020 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Cartesian Doubt, Clairvoyance, Ontological Argument

• School: Western University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: Philosophy 1020
• Professor: Steve Bland

Document Summary

Philosophy 1350f: reality and what we can know of it. Scepticism -> a philosophical movement that begins in the third century bc and declines after the time of sextus empiricus in the second century ce. Any questioning attitude towards unempirical knowledge or opinions/beliefs stated as facts. Suspension of judgement -> cognitive process and a rational state of mind in which one withholds judgement, particularly on the drawing of moral or ethical conclusions. Rationalism -> concept of innate ideas, reason, and deduction -> the belief that we can have knowledge w/o experiencing the real world. Empiricism -> conceptions of induction, perception, and no innate ideas -> the belief that we can only have knowledge based on the real world. Innate ideas -> at least certain ideas (eg. those of god, infinity, substance) must be innate, because no satisfactory empirical origin of them could be conceived. Ockham"s razor** -> a problem solving principle devised by william of ockham.